A three-week extension to the United Kingdom's lockdown measures is set to be approved by ministers today.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is deputising for Prime Minister Boris Johnson, will chair an emergency Cobra meeting about whether social distancing rules are working.

Labour have said they will back an extension but party leader Keir Starmer wants the Government to release a detailed exit strategy.

By law ministers need to review whether the measures the country are taking are working every three weeks.

Prime Minister Johnson issued the first lockdown on March 23 and shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth has said this morning an announcement of a three-week extension is imminent. 

He also called for an exit strategy plan and said he wanted a 'testing and contact-tracing strategy' to be made public.

He told BBC Breakfast:  "Last night the junior health minister Nadine Dorries was complaining on Twitter that people shouldn't be asking about an exit strategy because there's no exit strategy until we get a vaccine.

"Well that could be 18 months away so if the Government are saying we're in lockdown for 18 months they probably need to tell us.